The Whitehall baseball season ended recently when the Zephs couldn’t harness Michael Jenkins who used his bat this time, in addition to his arm, to help propel Parkland into the district semifinals.

While Whitehall was able to connect for eight hits and three runs during Jenkins’ 6 1/3 innings of work, his double off the center field fence with two outs in the third inning, turned a three-run deficit into a 6-0 lead, giving the righty all the cushion he would need to send the Trojans into the 4A semis against Easton, which went on to win the District 11 title.

Jenkins finished the game 2-for-3, including those three RBIs to help extinguish Whitehall’s 2016 season.

The 7-3 loss to Parkland puts to rest another successful season for the Zephs, who finished 13-9 overall and 11-5 in the league this year.

In that fateful third inning, manager Shaun O’Boyle said that a bad hop to short allowed the Trojans to load the bases with two outs. That brought Jenkins to the plate who delivered the bases-clearing double.

O’Boyle said that while bad luck may have presented the Trojans with an opportunity to put three more runs on the board, the four unearned runs they allowed were the breaking point.

“You can’t do that against a good team,” said O’Boyle.

O’Boyle liked their approach at the plate against Jenkins. It was in sharp contrast to his prior start which saw him take a no-hitter into the final inning.

In the fifth, they were able to push across some runs as Alex Bruneio doubled, scoring two runs to trim Parkland’s lead to 6-2.

Gianni Sinatore then homered in the bottom of the seventh to draw them closer, but Parkland also tacked on a run in their half of the seventh to make the final 7-3. Sinatore finished the game 2-for-4 with a homer and run scored.

Senior Javy Rodriguez also had two hits, while Robert Lamm delivered two hits as well for the Zephs.

“I thought we hit him pretty well,” said O’Boyle. “Unfortunately, you can’t beat a team like that giving up four unearned runs.”

Matthew Dobeck started the game for the Zephyrs. Bruneio came in relief during the third inning, finishing the game.

O’Boyle said that he thought both Dobeck and Bruneio threw well. It was just another case of their bats not delivering in crucial situations.

“Our Achilles heel all year has been scoring runs,” said O’Boyle. “We just have to figure out a way to score runs.”

While the Zephs managed to get eight hits, they left 12 men on base against Parkland.

That will be a focus of their offseason, said O’Boyle.

The Zephs return their entire pitching staff so they’ll be looking at ways to bolster their offense. O’Boyle will have to replace a strong senior class, but he’s confident someone will step up and fill the shoes created by their graduation.